Question for rehabbers using the MLS

[Cheyenne Davis]

For those of you who are buying properties off the MLS, how much does your realtor do for you? To date, our realtor has simply set us up with property alerts that fit our by criteria and then submitted a small amount of offers for us. We've bought and then resold about 15 properties so far in 2015. Granted, 15 purchases isn't a huge number, but it's enough that our agent has at least made some decent money. My question is, is it realistic to expect an agent to do more than just write a few offers here and there for you, if you are a serious and I'm going by her? It would make our lives much easier if we had an agent to pull comps and prescreened deals for us. However, in the past I've had a hard time finding one willing to do much extra work. For those of you who are successfully buying and reselling houses on a regular basis, can you share with me what all tasks your agent performs for you? Do you think I'm better off continuing to do it all myself or should I be expecting more?

[Travis Lloyd]

Let me preface this by saying that I have bypassed this entirely and gone straight onto the MLS myself. With that said, I have in the past provided some basic excel spreadsheets to agents I trust, and these sheets were relatively easy to fill in (number of bathrooms - full and half, finished basement yes/no, forced hot air system or radiators. I then had that spit out a rough estimate on rehab, based on their input. Then they had a second sheet that was like a mini analyzer, containing most of my usual information but all hidden "behind the scenes", so they could input the rehab amount from the first sheet, they pulled a list of comps and input their approximate ARV, and then out came a price. When the price that was spit out was anywhere near the list price, they sent me over the full packet.

A lot of work? Yes. For an agent that got commissions from 15 houses from you last year? No. Its simple, ask them if they would like to represent you on the next 15? If yes - then this is what you need from them to continue. If no, you will find someone else. There are always more realtors. They don't need to be the biggest name in the market - they just need to be willing to do what you ask. Remember, #2 works harder. Don't find the "top agent" anywhere - find someone who wants to get there.